Author: tatumjb352

2025 June 8 evening

   Here are a few of the butterflies that Aziza Cooper saw on Mount Tolmie yesterday (see yesterday’s posting).

Western Spring Azure Celastrina echo  (Lep.: Lycaenidae)
  Aziza Cooper

Anise Swallowtail  Papilio zelicaon  (Lep.: Papilionidae)
  Aziza Cooper

Painted Lady Vanessa cardui  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Aziza Cooper

West Coast Lady  Vanessa annabella  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)
  Aziza Cooper

   While in Parksville on June 7, Kirsten Mills managed to get a photo of a very active American Emerald dragonfly.   This is the second corduliid we have had recently (see May 23).

Cordulia shurtleffii  (Odo.: Corduliidae)  Kirsten Mills

   Aziza Cooper writes today, June 8:  Today, June 8, at Mount Tolmie there were six species of butterflies, three Pale Tiger, one Western Tiger and one Anise Swallowtail, two Lorquin’s Admirals, three Painted Ladies and one Cabbage White.  At the top of Mount Douglas it was lively with continuous flying of at least three Pale Tiger Swallowtails and three Painted Ladies.

  Jeremy Tatum writes: Dragonfly photographers might note that at present there are lots of Blue Dashers (some quite tame) flying around the edge of Swan Lake.

  Jeff Gaskin writes:  Kirsten Mills and I had a wonderful time looking for butterflies and dragonflies up in Nanaimo yesterday, June 7th.  Along NW Bay Logging road, we had as many as 11 species of butterflies and up to seven species of dragonflies.  Here’s how we did  ;  11 Lorquin’s Admirals, 3 Western Tiger Swallowtails,  15 Pale Tiger Swallowtails,  18 Clodius Parnassians,  Cabbage Whites, 3 each of Hydaspe and Western Meadow Fritillary, 1 Green Comma,  2 Mylitta Crescents, several blues which we think were all Western Spring Azures, and Kirsten also saw a Roadside Skipper which I unfortunately missed.  

     The dragonflies include the following :    Cardinal Meadowhawks,  Four-spotted Skimmers, an Eight -spotted Skimmer, Blue-eyed and California Darners.  We were lucky to find at Rhododendron Lake  two Chalk-fronted Corporals,  and 3 American Emeralds which we were able to photograph both of them.

      On June 6th Kirsten had a very late Sara Orangetip on Prospect Lake Road near Petworth Road.  

2025 June 8 morning

   Gordon Hart photographed this damselfly at Ocean Grove (near Esquimalt Lagoon) on June 6.  It is generally not possible to distinguish between Boreal and Northern Bluets from photographs alone – some microscopic examination is needed.

Boreal/Northern Bluet Enallagma boreale/annexum 
(Odo.: Coenagrionidae)
Gordon Hart

   Kirsten Mills photographed this dragonfly in Parksville on June 7.

Chalk-fronted Corporal  Ladona julia (Odo.: Libellulidae) 
Kirsten Mills

2025 June 7

    Jeremy Tatum writes: Here is a photograph of a Spectacle Moth Abrostola urentis.  The caterpillar is yet another nettle-eater.  The caterpillar was found last year on Lochside Drive north of Blenkinsop Lake, and is shown in Invert Alert, 2024 September 23,  page 18.  The adult moth was released in the same location today.  The moth is a plusiine, but, unlike most plusiines, the caterpillar has the full complement of four pairs of midabdominal prolegs.

Spectacle Moth Abrostola urentis  (Lep.: Noctuidae – Plusiinae)  Jeremy Tatum

   It is called a “spectacle” moth because:

Spectacle Moth Abrostola urentis  (Lep.: Noctuidae – Plusiinae)  Jeremy Tatum

   Apologies for the too reddish colour of the images.  The moth emerged after sunset and had to be photographed in artificial light, which I managed to correct only slightly – not quite enough.

  Here are some more invertebrates photographed by Ian Cooper on the California Lilac (Ceanothus) bushes growing along Academy Close behind St. Anne’s Academy, on June 4 and 5 2025.

Jumping spider  Metaphidippus manni (Ara.: Salticidae) 
Ian Cooper
Identified by Thomas Barbin

Unidentified ichneumon wasp (Hym.: Ichneumonidae)  Ian Cooper

American Morio Bee Fly  Hemipenthes morioides 
(Dip.: Bombyliidae) 
Ian Cooper

  

Marie O’Shaughnessy writes:  I was at Outerbridge Park for an hour on June 4, and I saw four Cabbage Whites, one Pale Tiger Swallowtail, one Western Tiger Swallowtail.

   Dragonflies were still the usual three species  –   two Four-spotted Skimmers,   four Cardinal Meadowhawks, three California Darners. 

Pale Tiger Swallowtail  Pterourus eurymedon  (Lep.: Papilionidae) Marie O’Shaughnessy

   Aziza Cooper writes:  On June 4 at the railroad tracks near Goldstream campground, there were at least 10 Cedar Hairstreaks, 10 Western Spring Azures and one Pale Tiger Swallowtail.

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  The locality was the same as the place where Aziza last year found and photographed a Johnson’s Hairstreak.   This year, Aziza sent the photograph below, and I was not completely sure whether it is a Cedar or a Johnson’s Hairstreak.  Thanks to Steve Ansell and David Harris, both of whom took considerable trouble to examine the photographs critcally.  They both confirmed that Aziza’s photograph last year (Invert Alert, July 30, 2024, page 30) is indeed a Johnson’s Hairstreak, but this year’s (photograph below) is a Cedar Hairstreak.

Cedar Hairstreak  Callophrys (Mitoura) gryneus 
(Lep.: Lycaenidae) 
Aziza Cooper

Butterflies Galore

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  I met Aziza Cooper at the Mount Tolmie reservoir at about 5:45 pm today, June 7, and we saw eight species of butterfly flying around there:  Western Tiger, Pale Tiger and Anise Swallowtails;  Painted and West Coast Ladies;   Red Admiral, Western Spring Azure, Cabbage White.

2025 June 6

   There was no posting on June 5

   Contributors seem to be attracted to photographing bees at the moment. Here are seven recent photos. 

Unidentified (yet!) bumble bee (Hym.: Apidae)     Gordon Hart

Mining Bee Andrena sp. (Hym.: Andrenidae)   Gordon Hart

 Fuzzy-horned Bumble Bee  Bombus mixtus (Hym.: Apidae)
Gordon Hart

Bombus vancouverensis (Hym.: Apidae)  Ian Cooper

Narcissus Bulb Fly  Merodon equestris (Dip.: Syrphidae) 
Ian Cooper

Fuzzy-horned Bumble Bee  Bombus mixtus (Hym.: Apidae)
  Ian Cooper

Mining Bee  Andrena sp. (Hym.: Andrenidae)  Ian Cooper

2025 June 4

Sher Falls writes: I’m curious to know what these little insects are. I see them every spring, always swarms of them surrounding Monkey Flowers.

Unknown flies (Dip.) Sher Falls

   Jeremy Tatum responds: I’m afraid I don’t know, other than that they are flies (Order Diptera). If any viewer has any ideas, do please let us know.

   Ian Cooper photographed this bee on a footpath behind St. Anne’s Academy, on June 01 2025.

Cellophane Bee  Colletes sp. (Hym.: Colletidae)   Ian Cooper

   Gordon Hart writes from the Highlands:   There was lots of activity yesterday here (Tuesday June 3). There were at least four Pale Tiger Swallowtails and one Western Tiger Swallowtail on the rhododendron flowers, plus a worn Green Comma nearby. There was also a Lorquin’s Admiral, our first this year for here. There were many bees and a few dragonflies.   Here is one of them.  Thanks for Dr Rob Cannings for the identification.

California Darner  Rhionaeschna californica  (Odo.: Aeshnidae)   Gordon Hart

2025 June 3 evening

   Val George writes: This Udea profundalis moth was on the wall of my Oak Bay house this morning, June 3.

Udea profundalis  (Lep.: Crambidae)  Val George

   Jeremy Tatum wonders why nettle leaves evolved by creating so many irritating stings over its leaves and stalks.  Presumably it has an advantage by discouraging animals from eating them.  If that is the case, why is it that there are so many butterfly and moth caterpillars that feed almost exclusively on nettles?  The caterpillars of the Satyr Comma and the Red Admiral feed on nettles.  So does the caterpillar of Udea profundalis, as well as the caterpillars of two small moths shown recently on this site – Hypena californica (June 2) and Olethreutes sp. (May 12).

2025 June 3 morning

   Gordon Hart sends a photograph of a West Coast Lady on Mount Tolmie yesterday, June 2.  It is of interest to compare this one with Aziza Cooper’s photograph of one on Mount Douglas on June 1 (see Invert Sightings post on June 2 morning).  Question:  What is the colour of the large pale patch in the apical region of the West Coast Lady?  These two photographs show that it can be either white (as in Aziza’s photograph) or orange (as in Gordon’s).

West Coast Lady  Vanessa annabella  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Gordon Hart

2025 June 2 evening

   Most of the exciting butterflies during yesterday’s Butterfly Walk were seen at the tops of Mounts Douglas and Tolmie.  Very few butterflies were seen at Rithet’s Bog.  However, Wendy Ansell reports a Lorquin’s Admiral from Rithet’s Bog today.

  Ian Cooper photographed the following flies and bee on California Lilac (Ceanothus) growing by Academy Close, a footpath behind St. Anne’s Academy, on June 01 2025. 

Flower Fly  Eupeodes fumipennis  (Dip.: Syrphidae)   Ian Cooper

Drone Fly  Eristalis tenax (Dip.: Syrphidae)   Ian Cooper

Flower Fly  Myathropa florea (Dip.: Syrphidae)   Ian Cooper

Yellow-faced bumblebee  Bombus vosnesenskii (Hym.: Apidae)   Ian Cooper

   Jeremy Tatum writes:   I believe the caterpillar below is a Lesser Yellow Underwing Moth Noctua comes, but I shan’t be sure until the adult moth emerges.

Probably Noctua comes  (Lep.: Noctuidae – Noctuinae) 
Jeremy Tatum

2025 June 2 morning

   After yesterday’s Monthly Butterfly Walk, Aziza Cooper went to Mount Douglas, where she saw two Red Admirals, one Painted Lady, one Anise Swallowtail, and one West Coast Lady.  Here are some of the photographs that she took there.

Anise Swallowtail  Papilio zelicaon  (Lep.:  Papilionidae) 
Aziza Cooper

Red Admiral  Vanessa atalanta  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Aziza Cooper

West Coast Lady  Vanessa annabella  (Lep.: Nymphalidae) 
Aziza Cooper

   We have three Lady butterflies that visit our area – Painted Lady, West Coast Lady, American Lady.  It is often thought that the largest of the pale patches in the apical area is white in the Painted and American Ladies, and orange in the West Coast Lady.  The colour of this patch alone is not sufficient to distinguish reliably between the species.  In Aziza’s Lady shown above, the patch is white – although this butterfly is unquestionably a West Coast Lady

   After yesterday’s Monthly Butterfly Walk, Gordon and Anne-Marie Hart went to Mount Tolmie, where they saw a Red Admiral, a Pale Tiger Swallowtail and three Painted Ladies.  Marie O’Shaughnessy also noted a Western Tiger Swallowtail there.  Here are some of the photographs that they took there and at Rithet’s Bog.  We start with a Painted Lady, so that viewers may compare it with Aziza’s West Coast Lady above.

Painted Lady  Vanessa cardui  (Lep.:  Nymphalidae)  Gordon Hart

Satyr Comma Polygonia satyrus  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Gordon Hart

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta  (Lep.: Nymphalidae)  Gordon Hart

Lorquin’s Admiral  Limenitis lorquini  (Lep.: Nymphalidae) 
Gordon Hart

Pale Tiger Swallowtail  Pterourus eurymedon  (Lep.: Papilionidae)  Gordon Hart

  Gordon also took the opportunity of photographing a spider at Rithet’s Bog, kindly identified for us by Ian Cooper:

Slender Crab Spider  Tibellus oblongus (Ara.: Philodromidae)  Gordon Hart

  More photographs from the Butterfly Walk will be welcome.  In the meantime, Jeremy Tatum sends a photograph of the moth below, reared from a caterpillar on Stinging Nettle near Blenkinsop Lake.  Moths of the genus Hypena are often called “snout” moths, because of their long labial palpi.

Hypena californica  (Lep.: Erebidae -Hypeninae)  Jeremy Tatum

2025 June 1

  Marie O’Shaughnessy visited Outerbridge Park on May 31.  She saw there one Pale Tiger Swallowtail, one Western Tiger Swallowtail, and two Cabbage White butterflies.  She also saw four Cardinal Meadowhawks, three Four-spotted Skimmers, and three California Darners.

Pale Tiger Swallowtail Pterourus eurymedon  (Lep.: Papilionidae)   Marie O’Shaughnessy

  On May 30, Gordon Hart visited Whitehead Park, a small park at the north end of Prospect Lake, where there were several dragonflies and damsels flying over and landing on the lily pads.
He photographed this male Dot-tailed Whiteface (and a small fly, which we shall not try to identify, other than confirming the Order Diptera).

Dot-tailed Whiteface Leucorrhinia intacta  (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Gordon Hart

    He also obtained the following interesting photograph, showing (on the right) an adult damselfly, and (to the left) an exuvia of a larval damselfly.   Could it be that the adult damselfly on the right has just crawled out of its larval exuvia on the left?

Damselfly exuvia and adult damselfly.  See text.  Gordon Hart.

   Dr Rob Cannings thinks this unlikely.  For one thing, the damselfly (Western Forktail Ischnura perparva) looks like a quite mature specimen (notice how it is covered with a grey-white pruinescence), so it has not just emerged from its larval exuvia.  The exuvia (of a damselfly of which we cannot be certain of the exact species) might possibly have been blown on to the lily leaf.  Most damselfly larvae crawl up a vertical stem to make the transformation to an adult.

   This morning, June 1, Jeremy Tatum saw his first Lorquin’s Admiral of the year, in Swan Creek Park, off Carey Road.  This is far from an unusually early sighting.  In the Invert Alerts for 2015 to 2024, five first sightings have been in May, the earliest being May 20 in 2016 and again in 2023.  As we see below, another Lorquin’s Admiral was seen this afternoon during the June Monthly Butterfly Walk.

   The Victoria NHS held its Monthly Butterfly Walk today.  Asziza Cooper writes:

  Today seven butterfly watchers started at Mount Tolmie and went to Rithet’s Bog.

We saw a total of six species. The weather was warm, sunny, and mostly calm.

Mt Tolmie:

Pale Tiger Swallowtail – 3 

Western Tiger Swallowtail – 1

Lorquin’s Admiral – 1

Cabbage White – 3

Rithet’s Bog:

Western Spring Azure – 1

Western Tiger Swallowtail – 1

Satyr Comma – 1

A possible Sheep Moth flew by at Mount Tolmie reservoir.

Back at Mount Tolmie at the end of the day, Jeremy Tatum and Marie O’Shaughnessy saw a Red Admiral. Also today, June1, at Mount Douglas summit, Aziza saw two Red Admirals, one Painted Lady, one Anise Swallowtail, and one West Coast Lady.

A few photographs from today’s Butterfly Walk will appear in tomorrow morning’s Invertebrate Sightings posting.